Machine for backfilling trenches



y 6, 1954 w. E. BURKHOLDE'R 2,682,716

MACHINE FOR BACKFILLING TRENCHES Filed Jan. 17, 1949 s Sheets-Sheet 1FIG.

' INVENTOR.

W. URKHOLDER,

Attorneys July 6, 1954 w. E. BURKHOLDER MACHINE FOR BACKFILLING TRENCHES3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 1'7, 1949 INVENTOR.

HOLDER, Wm mm Attorneys E. BURK gy I y 6, 1954 w. E. BURKHOLDER MACHINEFOR BACKFILLING TRENCHES 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Jan. 1'7, 1949 FIG. 3

42 2627 PI G. 4

. INVENTOR. W. E. BURKHOLDER Attorneys Patented July 6, 1954 UNITEDSTATES PATENT QF'FICE 2,682,716 MACHINE ronnaenrmnmo TRENGHES WdlliamBurk-holder, Bluflton, Ohio Application January 17, 1949, Serial No.71,334

2 Claims. 1

The invention to which the iiollowing rspe'c'ifi cation relates is in animproved machine for ba'cknll ing trenches. In general it is intended toreplace the dirt which has been excavated in making a trench ofindeterminate length. Such an operation is commonly carried out"Whenever it isd'esired' to lay pipes, drain tile, -'c'ables or thelike.

In such an operation, the dirt which has been removed from a trench isordinarily piled the form of a narrow ridge on one side or the trench.After the pipes, cables or the like have been laid in the open trench,this dirt must be replaced to 'iil l the trench. It has been known toprovide means by which this general purpose can be accomplished.invention is characterized by a machine which can be incorporated in awheel tractor of the usual type. The machine is then operated by powerfrom the tractor and, as the latter is advanced slowly, serves to spadethe material from the ridge into the open trench until the latter hasbeen filled up.

'In carrying out such a routine, it is essential that all of the loosedirt shall be scraped and brought within the held of action of thespades themselves. At the same time, means must be provided to preventthe dirt from being scattered or thrown beyond the open trench with theincidental burden of cleaning up.

"One of the objects of my invention is to pro- A further object or" myinvention is to provide for uniform and equal adjustment of the minimumheight of the spade elements throughout the length of the operatingdevices.

still further object of my invention is to provide supplemental meansfor varying the minimum height of the forward end of the spade elements.I

Another object of my invention is to adapt the improved machine formounting on a tractor of the usual construction and from which power canbe obtained for operating the machine. 7

A still further object is to insure that the dirt will be moved withoutlikelihood of being scattere'd.

Incidental to the last named object, it is in= tended to prevent thedirt from being thrown beyond the trench which is being filled.

A further object is to provide means for mec'hanically guiding themachine along the open trench.

' Other objects of my invention will be clearly .2 apparent from theliollo'wing description or the preferred embodiment of my invention.

This embodiment has been shown by way af example on the accompanyingdrawings in which Fig. l is :a plan View of the improved machine forback-filling trenches;

Fig. 2 is vertical transverse section taken on line 2''2 of Fig. 1 andshowing the spade elements and adjusting and operating means;

Fig. 3 is an elevation of the same elements from the trench side;

Fig. 4 is a similar elevation from the opposite side and Fig. 5 is atransverse elevation of an alternative spade arrangement.

In order to illustrate the essential features of my invention, I haveshown the improved machine for b'a'o'k-fiili n-g trenches as built intoa tractor of usual construction. This tractor has a frame 1 mounted upona wheeled u-nderbody in which the gauge is suiiiciently great tostraddle the ridge of excavated dirt. This will bring the wheels on oneside close to the open trench into which the dirt is to be replaced.

The tractor frame includes an operating plat form 2 on which a workmanmay stand and control both the movement of the tractor, its direction ofmovement and the several opera tions carried out in baclefilli-ng thetrench.

Under ordinary conditions of operation the several operations "ofadvancing, filling guid ing are performed automatically without actionby the work-man. i-ie merely supervises and are j'usts for unevenness oithe ground traversed.

' An engine 3, specifically an internal comer-1a ti-on engine, ismounted in rront of the platform 2. It has the usual means forpropelling the tractor. It also is provided with a power take off shaft=4 extending forwardly from the engine 3 to deliver power to the fillingmachine proper;

i he shaft 4 is connected by means of "clutch 5 to a belt-pulley 6,suitably .journaled on a cross member of the tractor frame 4 Clutch 5 isoperated by means of cone clutch I, which in turn is shifted :by meansof lever 8 connected by rod 9 to a hand-lever 19 mounted above theoperating platform .'2. By this means, the operator is able to connectthe filling machine to the power shaft in setting the machine inoperation.

A counter-shaft [1,, also suitably jo'ur'naled on the frame 1,, has abelt pulley ii at its ior= ward end which is connected by means of drivebelt 13 with the belt pulley '6.

' The rear end of the counter shaf-t is received in a bevel-gear box I4.From this gear box, a drive shaft I5 runs transversely of the frame I.It terminates at its free end in a gear box I6 which is suitably hungfrom the frame.

This gear box accommodates driving means consisting of a worm and gearor two bevel-gears or the equivalent.

A crank shaft I1 is journaled transversely in the gearbox I6 and isoperated by the gear combination of worm and gear, bevel-gears, or thelike.

The forward end of the crankshaft II has a crank I3, while the crank I9extends-to the rear from the shaft I'I. These cranks serve to supportthe forward ends of the spading elements.

The spading elements consist of a pair of bars 2!! and 2I. Each bar issubstantially in a horizontal position at its lower limit of movement aswill be described hereinafter.

The bars extend transversely of the tractor as shown in Fig. 1. Each barhas a series of inclined parallel rods depending from the bars. Each rodcarries a spade or similar scooping blade 23 below the bars and 2 I Innormal operation, the bars 26 and 2| are suspended so that their motionis limited in the lower positions to a general horizontal plane parallelwith the surface of the ground G in Fig. 2.

This limiting position is provided for by suspension means connectingthe ends of the bars 2i! and 2% with the tractor frame I. In Fig. 2, theside bars of the tractor frame I are illustrated in section. They formsupports for lateral brackets 24, 25. Brackets 24 extending laterallyfrom the tractor on the side opposite the trench have a rockshaft 24'having pairs of pivoted bellcranks 26, 26, 2'! and 21. The outer ends ofthe cranks 26, 26' have free swinging vertical links 23, 28, pivoted inbracket 29 to the rear end of the bar 25. In like manner, eachbell-crank 2T, 2? are connected by links 36, 30' to similar bracket 3Ion the bar 2 I The inner ends of the bell-cranks 26, 27 are connected toa shaft 32 which in turn is connected by means of a link 33 to a crank34. This crank 34 is fixed on an adjustment wheel 35, mounted on theframe of the tractor in a manner not illustrated, but which will beobvious to one familiar with such structures. A worm shaft 36, carryinga worm 31 in mesh of the gear 35 is connected at its other end to a pairof bevel-gears 38. One of these bevelgears 38 is mounted upon theforward end of a shaft 39. This shaft is journaled on the crossmembersof the tractor frame I and at the rear has a hand-wheel 46. Byadjustment of the hand-wheel 45, the position of arm 34 is adjusted andlikewise the bell-cranks 26, 21 serve to lift or lower the rear ends ofthe bars 23 and 2|.

Similar means is provided for adjusting the effective minimum heights ofthe forward ends of the bars 28 and 2I. Bar 20 has a pivotal connectionthrough pivot M to the crank I8 on the crankshaft IT. The gear box I6 inturn is suspended pivotally by means of a pair of links 42 and 43pivoted in turn to bell-cranks 44 and 45, respectively. Thesebell-cranks, as shown in Fig. 3, are pivoted on a rockshaft 25' carriedon brackets 25. Links 46, 41 are likewise pivoted on the rock shaft 25and are connected by rods 48 to an arm 49 fixed on the shaft of the gear35 (Fig. 2). A link 56 extends forwardly from the pivot point of thelinks 46 and 41 of rod 48 and between 44 and 45. This link 50 is slottedat 5I to receive a pin 52 which is carried on the rear 4 branches 53, 54respectively of the laterally disposed bell-crank levers 44 and 45.

An adjustment screw 55 is threaded on the forward end of the link 50 andrests against the free end of one of the branches 53 and 54.

By this means, the branches 53 and 54 may be suspended lengthwise alongthe link 55.

Disregarding the adjustment of screw 55, any adjustment of the gear 35will give equal adjustment to the bell-crank levers 26, 27, 53 and 54.Thus, the ends of the bars 20 and 2i are caused to rise and fall equallywith respect to the horizontal plane. In this motion and due to thepivoted link 42 the gear box I6 remains at a constant distance from gearbox I4, around which it moves radially.

In the event that the forward ends of the spade-bars are to be raisedslightly out of the horizontal position, this can be accomplished byadjustment of the screw 55.

With the normal positions of the bars 26 and 2i provided for as abovedescribed, rotation of the crankshaft I'I causes the cranks I8 and I9 torotate. This causes the forward ends of the bars and the series ofspades to follow a circular path of movement, advancing in the lowerhalf to push forward a portion of the dirt and retreating in the upperreturn movement free from the loose material.

This rotary movement of the forward ends of the bars becomessubstantially a slight to-andfro rocking at the rear ends by reason ofthe pivotal movement of links 28 and 35 around the upper pivot points.

In this way the ridge of material is gradually advanced step by-step andthrown into the open trench, 53, Fig. 2.

As some of the loose material may be out of the path of the rear seriesof spades 23, that material may be lost. In order to prevent suchmaterial being pushed out of the normal path of movement, I havearranged a baffie 51 which is suspended by means of bell cranks 55 on arock shaft 58 journaled on brackets 59 on the frame I.

A suitable worm shaft 55 actuates a gear (not shown) on shaft 56 andallows the baffie 51 to be lifted and lowered as occasion may demand.

In this way, the loose material is prevented from scattering and in factthe bafiie 5! provides a screed which levels off the surface of theground after the dirt has been scooped into the trench returning anyloose dirt to the path of movement of the spades.

It is also important that an abutment be provided on the far side of theopen trench to throw back into the trench any dirt which is thrownbeyond the trench. I have provided such an abutment 52, suspended fromarms 53, 33 on a rock shaft 54. Rockshaft 54 is pivotally carried bybrackets 55, 55, as shown in Fig. 1. A wheel 66 fastened on rockshaft 55is connected by cable 51 to an adjustment wheel 33 mounted on the sideof the tractor frame I by the operating platform 2. This permits theabutment 52 to be lifted or lowered into position close to the ground bythe trench.

Means are also provided to effect automatic guiding of the machine alongthe open trench. The rockshaft 54 has fixed arms 39, 63 with a dependingyoke H3 pivoted to the arms 59. The yoke 15 has a loose roller 'iijournalled on it in a, vertical plane. As the shaft 62 is rocked, theroller "ii is lowered into the trench and engages one side.

An extension I2 is fixed on the yoke IE! and has a pivotal link 13 alsopivoted to the slide 14 at the center of the front axle.

The slide 74 is carried in a curved track 15. Two reach rods l6, 16extend in opposite directions from the slide 14. As the extension '12 istilted by the yoke 19, the slide it moves to one or the other side andturns the front wheels into position to follow the trench accurately.When the machine is not engaged in back-filling a ditch but is to betransported, the usual steering is effected by the drag-link 89.

In some operating conditions, it is necessary to use greater power todrive the spade units. Thus, I have under such conditions modified themovement of each spade element so that a uniform circular motion isgiven to the spades throughout the length of the element. Such anarrangement has been shown in the modification illustrated in Fig. 5.

Here the belt pulley I2 is rotated by the drive belt l3 from shaft 6(not illustrated). Power from the pulley l2 enters the gear box l4 anddrives the shaft l5 and the crank shaft 11 in the manner alreadydescribed.

In this arrangement, the gear box i6 is suspended by rigid arms (notillustrated) from the vehicle frame.

Leading from the gear box I4 in a direction opposite to the shaft 15 isa, universal joint 11. This is conducted to a shaft 18 which enters asecond gear box 19. Gear bov '19 is suspended by a fixed arm (notillustrated) from the vehicle frame.

The second gear box 19 has an additional crank shaft l! and opposedcranks. One crank It has the same angular position as crank 18 on thefirst described shaft I! while an opposite crank is directed oppositelyin the same direction as crank IS on the first described shaft 11.

The bars 29 and 2| are journaled on the cranks l8, l8 and l9, 19respectively. It will thus be apparent that bars 20 and 2| aremaintained parallel and rotate in the same direction'but in oppositephases.

This gives each spade 23 the same stroke and provides a uniformtransverse movement of the dirt.

By means of the machine thus described, I provide for eflicienttransverse movement of the dirt from a ridge or pile into an alreadyexcavated trench. The movement of the dirt may be accelerated inquantity as it approaches the trench or is uniformly advanced as in theexample last described.

Means are provided to prevent lateral scattering of the material and itsdelivery into the trench without being thrown beyond the trench.

By suitable correlation of movement, the vehicle is advanced as theridge of dirt is returned to the trench. In this movement, the forwardwheels of the vehicle are controlled so that they travel parallel to thetrench and are guided by the latter. In this way a minimum of attentionis required on the part of the operator.

The preferred form of my invention has been described in detail but maybe varied in respect to arrangement of parts, materials and proportionswithout departing from the scope of the invention as defined inthefollowing claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a portable machine for back-filling trenches, a frame, a pair ofbars, a series of spades mounted on each bar, a rock-shaft on one sideof the frame, two pairs of bell-crank levers on the shaft, two linkspivotally suspending one end of each bar independently from one pair ofbell-crank levers, a driving shaft, bearing means therefore, a secondrock-shaft on the opposite side of the frame, a pair of bell-cranklevers on said second shaft, two links pivotally suspending the bearingmeans from said last named pair of bell-crank levers, a common adjustinggear intermediate the sides of the frame, links connecting the gear witheach pair of levers, a pair of opposed cranks on the drive-shaft and apivotal connection between each crank and the adjacent end of one ofsaid bars.

2. In a portable machine for back-filling trenches, a frame, a pair ofbars, a series of spades mounted on each bar, a rock-shaft on one sideof the frame, two pairs of bell-crank levers on the shaft, two linkspivotally suspending one end of each bar independently from one pair ofbell-crank levers, a common adjusting gear intermediate the sides of theframe, a link connecting the gear with said pairs of bell-crank levers,a driving shaft, a pair of opposed cranks thereon, a pivotal connectionbetween each crank and the adjacent end of one of said bars, bearingmeans for the drive-shaft, a second rock-shaft on the second side of theframe, a pair of bell-crank levers on the rock-shaft, two linkspivotally suspending said driving shaft bearing means from the said lastnamed bell-crank levers, and adjustable linkage connecting the commonadjusting gear with said last named bell-crank levers.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 708,616 7 Bearman Sept. 9, 1902 1,210,092 McKay Dec. 26, 19161,397,653 Prendergast Nov. 22, 1921 1,687,313 Robb Oct. 9, 19281,796,184 Barber Mar. 10, 1931 2,231,177 Banton Feb. 11, 1941 2,463,499Thornley Mar. 1, 1949

